Cambodian Prime Minister criticizes Lee Hsien Loong's statement about Vietnam

"I deeply regret that Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong posted on Facebook on May 31 that General Prem, when he was Prime Minister of Thailand, joined ASEAN members in opposing Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia and the new Cambodian government that replaced the Khmer Rouge," Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen wrote in Khmer on Facebook on June 6.

According to Mr. Hun Sen, Mr. Lee’s statement shows that Singapore supports the genocidal regime and wants it to return to Cambodia. This is also an insult to the innocent sacrifice of the Vietnamese Volunteers who helped liberate Cambodia from the genocidal regime.

"Singapore was the host country of a meeting that led to the formation of the three-faction mixed government of Democratic Kampuchea and has prolonged the war in Cambodia, as well as the suffering of the Cambodian people for more than 10 years, which means opposing the revival of the Cambodian people," Prime Minister Hun Sen wrote.

"So finally, I would like to ask Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong whether he considers the trial of Khmer Rouge leaders to be correct or not?", the Cambodian leader asked.

Prime Minister Hun Sen's response came after his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong spoke at the Shangri-La Dialogue and posted on his personal Facebook page last week that the Vietnamese military's intervention in Cambodia to destroy the Khmer Rouge in 1979 was "an invasion".

Cambodian People's Party (CPP) MP Hun Many, son of Prime Minister Hun Sen, on June 3 also protested the Singaporean Prime Minister's statement and affirmed that Vietnam had supported the CPP in overthrowing the Khmer Rouge.

Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh said he raised the issue with Singapore's Defense Minister at the Shangri-La Dialogue last weekend. He asked Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong through his Singaporean counterpart to correct his remarks, stressing that they were "not true and do not reflect the history of the event."

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said on June 4 that Vietnam regrets some statements that do not objectively reflect historical facts, causing negative impacts on public opinion. At a press conference yesterday, Ms. Hang said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant agencies of Vietnam have had official and unofficial contacts with Singaporean partners, as well as sent a diplomatic note to the Singaporean Embassy in Hanoi to discuss this issue.

Ms. Hang affirmed that Vietnam's contributions and sacrifices in joining the Cambodian people in ending the Khmer Rouge's genocide are widely recognized facts. On November 16, 2018, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) issued a verdict on the Khmer Rouge's crimes of genocide against humanity, providing justice for the victims, which was welcomed by the United Nations and the international community.